Inside Unmanned Systems

AUG-SEP 2018

Inside Unmanned Systems provides actionable business intelligence to decision-makers and influencers operating within the global UAS community. Features include analysis of key technologies, policy/regulatory developments and new product design.

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AIR HAZARD TRACKING
48 August/September 2018 unmanned systems
inside
During an emergency, facility personnel
are typically sent out in pairs to acquire data
from the moving plume, said Keith Lovendale,
President and CEO of RADeCO. One collects
radiation levels while the other drives the ve-
hicle. The information gathered is sent back to
the plant so workers responding can compare
the plume model to the actual dose rate. The
model is created to determine how far and
where the plume is going to travel.
"The teams are sent out to areas based
on wind direction and the plume models,"
Lovendale said. "Once they get to the plume,
they traverse across the plume to find the
center, which is where they'll find the highest
radiation dose. They make notes of where the
highest rate is and where there is no rate. They
also might take air samples if there's a ground
plume situation."
The challenge is, these teams can only
collect a ground level dose rate. Drones can
quickly and easily find the center with one
employee and without the need to put anyone
in harm's way—collecting data these facilities
never have been able to collect before.
"They can't see where the true center of the
plume is, which is elevated some distance
above the ground," Lovendale said. "With
a drone, you can pull sample data from the
center of the plume, which provides more ac-
curate, useful information we didn't have ac-
cess to before. This data can be compared to
the model so evacuation plans can be changed
as needed."
Charlotte UAV's industrial X8 configured
system, known as the RadKnight Duke, can
be equipped with various radiation detec-
tion instrumentation to provide real-time
radiological data through the Mirion Flight
Control System and SPIR-Ident Software. As
the UAS collects data, the user on the ground
receives a live stream of a spectrum of colors
and GPS tags that shows the strength of the
radiation as well as a map of where it's coming
from, combining the onboard GPS data with
the detector output.
Flying the UAS not only reduces radiation
exposure levels for personnel and the man
hours necessary to collect the levels, it also pro-
vides access to and maps of areas people and
cars simply can't reach. Many nuclear facilities
are located in rural areas, which makes it dif-
ficult to get to the plume as the wind carries it
away from the plant, said Kip Kelley, a techni-
cal sales engineer for Mirion Technologies.
The FlyCam UAV platforms, the Neo Octo
Drone and the Zoe Quad Drone, are all-
weather systems that can carry two radio-
logical sensors—a plume sniffer and an alpha
beta gamma search tool for fixed sources other
than a plume, both from US Nuclear Corp. The
sensors provide radiation levels in real time,
eliminating the need for personnel to put on
Photo courtesy of Mark Roberson of Goldfinch Sensor Technologies and Analytics LLC.
RADI
ION
DETECTION
3-D MOUNTING
BRACKET
Goldfi nch Sensor Technologies
and Analytics created a 3-D printed mounting bracket to
hold a radiation detector to measure the levels and types of
radioactive materials. The bracket was part of a proposal to
show how a UAS could be used to map radioactive areas.
"THE FIRST
THING TO DO IS MAKE
THE SENSORS SMALL
AND LIGHTWEIGHT
SO THEY CAN GO ON
THE DRONE WITHOUT
OVERPOWERING THEM."
Bob Goldstein, CEO,
US Nuclear Corp